Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 06-514
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, March 24, 2006
COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 2005 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
In October 2005, 68.6 percent of high school graduates from the class of
2005 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data released
today by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The
college enrollment rate for recent high school graduates was a historical
high for the series dating back to 1959.
Information on school enrollment and work activity is collected monthly
in the Current Population Survey (CPS). Each October, a supplement to the
basic CPS gathers more detailed information on full-time and part-time
enrollment status, level of education, and enrollment status a year earlier.
The CPS is a monthly nationwide survey of about 60,000 households that obtains
information on employment, unemployment, earnings, demographics, and other
characteristics of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over.
Additional information about the October supplement is included in the Tech-
nical Note.
Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts
Of the 2.7 million youth who graduated from high school between October
2004 and October 2005, 1.8 million (68.6 percent) were attending college in
October 2005. The college enrollment rate of young women, 70.4 percent,
continued to exceed that of young men, 66.5 percent. Asians were more likely
than whites, blacks, and Hispanics to be enrolled in college in the fall
following their high school graduation.
Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college, 91.2 percent were
full-time students. Of these full-time students, 44.3 percent were in the
labor force, either working or looking for work, in October 2005. In contrast,
79.0 percent of part-time college students participated in the labor force.
About two-thirds of the 2005 high school graduates enrolled in college
attended 4-year institutions. The labor force participation rate for these
students was 39.9 percent, and their unemployment rate was 6.3 percent. In
contrast, 61.3 percent of the recent high school graduates enrolled in 2-year
institutions were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 11.0 per-
cent. (See table 1.)
Recent high school graduates who were not enrolled in college in the fall
of 2005 were more likely than enrolled graduates to participate in the labor
force (78.5 versus 47.4 percent). The unemployment rate for those not en-
rolled in college was 20.6 percent in October 2005; the jobless rate for recent
high school graduates enrolled in college was 8.4 percent.
Between October 2004 and October 2005, about 400,000 young people dropped
out of high school. The labor force participation rate for these dropouts
(57.2 percent) was considerably lower than the participation rate for recent
high school graduates who had not enrolled in college (78.5 percent). Among
recent high school dropouts, men were more likely than women to be participa-
ting in the labor force in October 2005 (59.7 and 54.0 percent, respectively).
The unemployment rate for recent high school dropouts was 32.9 percent in
October 2005, and the unemployment rate of recent high school graduates who
had not enrolled in college was 20.6 percent.
- 2 -
Youth Enrolled in School
In October 2005, 20.9 million 16- to 24-year olds were either enrolled
in high school (9.9 million) or college (11.0 million). Among high school
students, 31.0 percent were engaged in some form of labor force activity in
October. Among college students who were enrolled full time, 52.7 percent
participated in the labor force. In contrast, 88.2 percent of part-time
college students participated in the labor force. (See table 2.)
Overall, the unemployment rate for high school students (17.0 percent)
was
higher than for college students (6.1 percent). Unemployment rates for
black (35.0 percent) and Hispanic (24.8 percent) high school students contin-
ued to be higher than for whites (14.9 percent). Among college students,
blacks had the highest unemployment rate (10.5 percent), while Hispanic and
white college students had similar rates (5.9 and 5.7 percent, respectively).
Asian college students had an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent in October 2005.
Out-of-School Youth
Of the 15.9 million 16- to 24-year olds not enrolled in school in
October 2005, 81.3 percent were in the labor force. Among youth not in
school, men were more likely than women to be in the labor force, 87.5
percent compared with 74.6 percent. The difference was greatest among
those with less than a high school diploma and diminished with more
education. (See table 2.)
Unemployment rates for youth not in school were lower among those with
higher education levels. The unemployment rates for youths who had college
degrees were 5.4 percent for men and 3.6 percent for women. In contrast,
youth without a high school diploma who were not enrolled in school had
unemployment rates of 15.3 percent for men and 21.2 percent for women.
Technical Note
The estimates in this release were obtained from a supplement to the
October 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about
60,000 households which provides information on the labor force, employ-
ment, and unemployment for the nation. The survey is conducted monthly
for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data re-
late to the school enrollment status of persons 16 to 24 years of age in
the civilian noninstitutional population in the calendar week that includes
the 12th of the month. Data reflect revised population controls for the
Current Population Survey introduced in January 2005.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral
phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Reliability of the estimates
Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling
error. When a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed,
there is a chance that the sample estimates may differ from the "true"
population values they represent. The exact difference, or sampling error,
varies depending on the particular sample selected, and this variability
is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a 90-
percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample
will differ by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the "true" population
value because of sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at
the 90-percent level of confidence.
The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error
can occur for many reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of
the population, inability to obtain information for all respondents in the
sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct infor-
mation, and error made in the collection or processing of the data.
For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and
information on estimating standard errors, see the "Explanatory Notes and
Estimates of Error" section of Employment and Earnings.
Concepts
The principal concepts used in connection with the school enrollment
series are described briefly below.
School enrollment. Respondents were asked whether they were currently
enrolled in a regular school, including day or night school in any type of
public, parochial, or other private school. Regular schooling is that
which may advance a person toward a high school diploma or a college,
university, or professional degree. Such schools include elementary
schools, junior or senior high schools, and colleges and universities.
Other schooling, including trade schools; on-the-job training; and courses
that do not require physical presence in school, such as correspondence
courses or other courses of independent study, is included only if the
credits granted count toward promotion in regular school.
Full-time and part-time enrollment in college. College students are
classified as attending full time if they were taking 12 hours of classes
or more (or 9 hours of graduate classes) during an average school week and
as part time if they were taking fewer hours.
High school graduation status. Persons who were not enrolled in school
at the time of the survey were asked whether they had graduated from high
school. Those who had graduated were asked when they completed their high
school education. Persons who had not graduated, that is, school dropouts,
were asked when they last attended a regular school. Those who were
enrolled in college at the time of the survey also were asked when they
graduated from high school.
Table 1. Labor force status of 2005 high school graduates and 2004-05 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old
by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2005
(Numbers in thousands)
Civilian labor force
Civilian Not in
Characteristic noninsti- Employed Unemployed labor
tutional Percent of force
population Total population
Total Percent of Number Rate
population
Total, 2005 high school graduates
(1)............................. 2,675 1,529 57.2 1,320 49.3 209 13.7 1,146
Men.............................. 1,262 751 59.5 652 51.7 99 13.1 511
Women............................ 1,414 778 55.0 668 47.2 110 14.2 635
White............................ 2,147 1,256 58.5 1,106 51.5 149 11.9 891
Black or African American........ 354 196 55.3 146 41.1 50 25.5 159
Asian............................ 80 22 27.1 22 27.1 - (2) 58
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity..... 390 237 60.6 193 49.4 44 18.5 154
Enrolled in college.............. 1,834 869 47.4 795 43.4 73 8.4 965
Enrolled in 2-year college..... 642 393 61.3 350 54.5 43 11.0 249
Enrolled in 4-year college..... 1,192 475 39.9 445 37.4 30 6.3 717
Full-time students............. 1,672 741 44.3 676 40.4 65 8.7 931
Part-time students............. 162 128 79.0 120 73.8 8 6.6 34
Men............................ 839 406 48.4 364 43.4 42 10.3 433
Women.......................... 995 463 46.5 431 43.3 31 6.8 533
White.......................... 1,490 728 48.8 674 45.2 54 7.4 762
Black or African American...... 201 82 40.7 68 33.9 14 16.8 119
Asian.......................... 70 19 (2) 19 (2) - (2) 50
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity... 211 96 45.7 91 43.1 6 5.8 114
Not enrolled in college.......... 841 660 78.5 525 62.4 136 20.6 181
Men............................ 423 345 81.6 288 68.2 57 16.4 78
Women.......................... 418 315 75.4 236 56.5 79 25.1 103
White.......................... 656 528 80.4 432 65.9 96 18.1 128
Black or African American...... 153 114 74.4 78 50.7 36 31.9 39
Asian.......................... 10 2 (2) 2 (2) - 2) 8
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity... 179 140 78.2 102 56.9 38 27.3 39
Total, 2004-05 high school dropouts
(3)............................. 407 233 57.2 156 38.3 77 32.9 174
Men.............................. 227 136 59.7 87 38.3 49 35.9 91
Women............................ 180 97 54.0 69 38.4 28 28.8 83
White............................ 273 166 61.1 114 41.9 52 31.4 106
Black or African American........ 114 52 45.4 31 27.6 20 (2) 62
Asian............................ 7 6 (2) 6 (2) 1 (2) -
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity..... 86 55 64.3 39 45.1 17 (2) 31
1 Data refer to persons who graduated from high school between October 2004 and October 2005.
2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2004 and October 2005.
NOTE: Detail for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals
because data are not presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or
Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race. Because of rounding,
sums of individual items may not equal totals. Dash represents or rounds to zero. Data reflect revised
population controls for the Current Population Survey introduced in January 2005.
Table 2. Labor force status of persons 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex,
race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2005
(Numbers in thousands)
Civilian labor force
Civilian Not in
Characteristic noninsti- Employed Unemployed labor
tutional Percent of force
population Total population
Total Percent of Number Rate
population
Total, 16 to 24 years.......... 36,761 22,338 60.8 20,032 54.5 2,306 10.3 14,423
Enrolled in school................. 20,905 9,442 45.2 8,528 40.8 914 9.7 11,462
Enrolled in high school (1)...... 9,905 3,075 31.0 2,552 25.8 523 17.0 6,830
Men............................ 5,234 1,528 29.2 1,292 24.7 236 15.4 3,706
Women.......................... 4,671 1,547 33.1 1,260 27.0 287 18.6 3,123
White.......................... 7,597 2,587 34.1 2,200 29.0 387 14.9 5,010
Black or African American...... 1,565 292 18.7 190 12.1 102 35.0 1,273
Asian.......................... 343 74 21.5 70 20.4 4 (2) 269
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity... 1,661 391 23.5 294 17.7 97 24.8 1,270
Enrolled in college.............. 11,000 6,367 57.9 5,976 54.3 391 6.1 4,633
Enrolled in 2-year college..... 2,749 1,845 67.1 1,693 61.6 152 8.2 904
Enrolled in 4-year college..... 8,250 4,522 54.8 4,282 51.9 240 5.3 3,728
Full-time students............. 9,396 4,952 52.7 4,612 49.1 340 6.9 4,443
Part-time students............. 1,604 1,414 88.2 1,363 85.0 51 3.6 189
Men............................ 5,034 2,816 55.9 2,620 52.0 196 7.0 2,218
Women.......................... 5,965 3,551 59.5 3,356 56.3 195 5.5 2,414
White.......................... 8,603 5,169 60.1 4,877 56.7 292 5.7 3,433
Black or African American...... 1,328 656 49.4 587 44.2 69 10.5 672
Asian.......................... 715 326 45.6 311 43.5 15 4.6 389
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity... 1,243 681 54.8 641 51.6 40 5.9 561
Not enrolled in school............. 15,856 12,896 81.3 11,504 72.6 1,392 10.8 2,960
16 to 19 years................... 2,884 2,070 71.8 1,681 58.3 389 18.8 813
20 to 24 years................... 12,973 10,826 83.5 9,823 75.7 1,003 9.3 2,147
Men.............................. 8,279 7,240 87.5 6,442 77.8 798 11.0 1,039
Less than a high school
diploma....................... 2,009 1,602 79.8 1,357 67.5 246 15.3 406
High school graduates, no
college (3)................... 3,849 3,381 87.8 3,018 78.4 363 10.7 468
Some college or associate
degree........................ 1,713 1,576 92.0 1,424 83.1 153 9.7 137
Bachelor's degree and higher... 708 681 96.1 644 90.9 37 5.4 27
Women............................ 7,578 5,656 74.6 5,062 66.8 594 10.5 1,921
Less than a high school
diploma....................... 1,449 776 53.5 611 42.2 165 21.2 673
High school graduates, no
college (3)................... 3,219 2,355 73.2 2,083 64.7 271 11.5 864
Some college or associate
degree........................ 1,861 1,553 83.4 1,430 76.8 123 7.9 308
Bachelor's degree and higher... 1,049 973 92.8 938 89.4 35 3.6 76
White............................ 12,412 10,285 82.9 9,323 75.1 962 9.4 2,127
Black or African American........ 2,448 1,843 75.3 1,506 61.5 338 18.3 605
Asian............................ 419 339 81.0 314 74.9 25 7.5 80
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity..... 3,460 2,663 77.0 2,367 68.4 295 11.1 798
1 Includes a small number of persons enrolled in grades below high school.
2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
3 Includes high school diploma or equivalent.
NOTE: Detail for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals
because data are not presented for all races. In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or
Latino may be of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race. Because of rounding,
sums of individual items may not equal totals. Data reflect revised population controls for the Current
Population Survey introduced in January 2005.